CRIMES OF VIOLENCE 133 



Peter B. Acritelli states that " Two thirds of the list of homicides in 

 the Tombs are men of Italian birth." And doubtless nine tenths of 

 these are from Sicily, Sardinia or southern Italy, since the natives of 

 northern Italy are not given to crimes of violence; human life being 

 safer in Venice or Florence than in Boston or Philadelphia; more 

 secure in Milan, Turin or Genoa than in Cleveland, Chicago or San 

 Francisco. 



The accompanying table shows the comparative security of human 

 life in various cities, and reveals the fact that the life of the average 

 citizen is as safe in New York as in most urban communities. 



Table showing the Average Annual Ratio of Deaths by Homicide peb 

 100,000 of Population in Various Cities, based upon Official Reports 



Annual Average 

 of Homicides per 

 100,000 Popu- 

 City lation Period 



Mexico, Mex 70.72 1899 



Girgenti, Sicily 40.48 1897-1899 



Sassari, Sardinia 38.64 1897-1899 



Lima, Peru 36.G0 1899-1900 



La Paz, Bolivia 33.71 1902 



Naples, Italy 29.23 1879-1899 



Lexington, Ky 17.77 1901-1905 



Kansas, Kan 17.64 1904-1905 



Louisville, Ky 14.85 1901-1905 



St. Louis, Mo , 14.16 1900-1904 



Rome, Italy 13.81 1897-1899 



San Francisco, Cal 9.00 1899-1903 



Chicago, 111 7.03 1893-1904 



Turin, Italy 6.56 1897-1899 



Budapest, Hungary 6.13 1895-1901 



Cleveland, 6.12 1904-1906 



Genoa, Italy : 5.83 1897-1899 



New York, N. Y 4.93 1904-1906 



Providence, R. 1 3.59 1900-1904 



Baltimore, Md 3.39 1901-1905 



Milan, Italy 3.20 1897-1899 



Philadelphia, Pa 3.27 1904-1906 



Boston, Mass 3.13 1904-1906 



Venice, Italy 2.82 1897-1899 



Newark, N. J 1.50 1902-1904 



Milwaukee, Wis 1.45 1898-1904 



In regard to the reputed increase of highway robbery in Greater 

 New York, the police records would seem to show that no such increase 

 has taken place. In comparing the number of crimes annually com- 

 mitted in New York City, it should be borne in mind that the popula- 

 tion increases at the rate of nearly 113,000 yearly. As to the increase 

 of highway robbery, the police court records merely show that the num- 

 ber of such crimes is far greater in some years than in others. This is 

 true of all our great cities. We may note, for example, that there were 

 thirteen times more arrests made in Baltimore for highway robbery in 

 1903 than in 1901; in Newark, there were fifteen times more arrests 



